German woman arrested after 18 injured in Hamburg attack

Eighteen people were injured in a knife attack at the main railway station in the German city of Hamburg on Friday evening, police said.

Hamburg police said on Saturday that four of the victims who had sustained life-threatening injuries were in a stable condition, according to BBC News.

Officers arrested a 39-year-old German woman at the scene of the attack, which took place at about 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on Friday.

Police said there was "very concrete evidence" of mental illness in the suspect, and no evidence the attack was politically motivated.

The woman remains in police custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Saturday.

The attack happened between platforms 13 and 14 - which are accessible via a busy main road - while a train was on one of the platforms.

The suspect began stabbing people waiting for the train, but was stopped by the "rapid intervention" of two people on the platform as well as emergency services, police said.

The victims range in age from 19 to 85. Seven people were slightly injured, seven seriously injured, and four critically injured, police said.

The critically injured - a 24-year-old female, 24-year-old male, 52-year-old female, and an 85-year-old female - were stable as of Saturday.

Police said on Saturday that after further investigations, there was still no evidence the attack was politically motivated.

"Rather, there is now very concrete evidence of a mental illness on the part of the suspect," it said, adding there was no evidence that the woman was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

An investigation by homicide division into the incident is ongoing.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the attack was "shocking" and thanked the emergency services on the ground for "their rapid assistance".